Warriors’ Durant receives award named for Muhammad Ali

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Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) celebrates after a 3-point basket by teammate Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) in overtime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-114 in overtime. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Tuesday night in Los Angeles, Durant, the Warriors’ two-time NBA Finals MVP, was honored with an award named for Muhammad Ali at the Sports Humanitarian Awards.

Durant was honored for his portfolio of philanthropic ventures. He has built basketball courts all over the world. He established a foundation to benefit at-risk and homeless youths. In 2013, after parts of Oklahoma were ravaged by tornadoes, he donated $1 million to relief efforts. More recently he has pledged $10 million to help underprivileged students prepare for and attend college.

You could reflect on the comments of ESPN’s Kevin Neghandi who, just before Durant was honored, quoted Ali as saying, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on Earth.”

You could consider Durant’s own words: “It feels like I’m doing something in the world when I help someone else.”

But to experience Durant’s good work at a more visceral level, better you watch this clip, in which four young students are told he will be paying their first year of college tuition:

.@KDTrey5 is this year's recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for his leadership and positive impact on his community.

Gary Peterson is a sports writer for the Bay Area News Group. His prior assignments included 31 years as a sports columnist, serving as a general assignment news reporter, covering courts and writing a metro column before finding his way back to sports.